Evolution
by Disturbed
  • Record Label: Reprise
  • Release Date: Oct 19, 2018
User Score
6.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 44 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 44
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 44
  3. Negative: 10 out of 44
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  1. dnfm
    Oct 24, 2018
    3
    Mostly a snore-fest.

    'Evolution' is probably the right name for this album. Because they've evolved. Unfortunately, the evolution was a regression. Presumably due to the new found fame that came with their cover of Sound of Silence, Disturbed has learned they can make a lot more cash by going softer. And that they did -- despite it being their weakest attribute. There are a few    Mostly a snore-fest.

    'Evolution' is probably the right name for this album. Because they've evolved. Unfortunately, the evolution was a regression.

    Presumably due to the new found fame that came with their cover of Sound of Silence, Disturbed has learned they can make a lot more cash by going softer. And that they did -- despite it being their weakest attribute.

    There are a few songs, like, "Are You Ready?" and "No More" that are tolerable, but overall, this album is a huge miss. They've walked away from the sound that made them in the first place.

    I suppose after 6 solid albums, they were due for a turd. Here's hoping they learn from this and the next one is better.    … Expand
  2. rahonejm
    Nov 23, 2018
    6
    It's like the band listened to an acoustic guitar for the first time and decided to do an entire album with it. Disturbed's slow songs have always been their weakest part. Luckily there wasn't many throughout the years, but it seems like The Sound of Silence's success really got to their head. When going through this album, you'll go through this up and down stream of "oh wait, this is aIt's like the band listened to an acoustic guitar for the first time and decided to do an entire album with it. Disturbed's slow songs have always been their weakest part. Luckily there wasn't many throughout the years, but it seems like The Sound of Silence's success really got to their head. When going through this album, you'll go through this up and down stream of "oh wait, this is a good song" and then "oh, no, not another sad song". It doesn't make any sense. It's like you have 6 Disturbed songs and 8 Nickelback songs mixed in and thrown together to make a compilation. Calling this album "Evolution" is a far cry from the reality. Changing styles is not evolution if this change means focusing on your weakest parts. The saving grace, though, is that the good songs from the album are actually good - the standard of quality you can expect from Disturbed. Too bad they're the minority here. If you want to feel sad and depressed, this album is for you. And there's this weird electronic remix of one of the songs that just makes it feel like they wanted as many different styles in there just for the sake of it.… Expand
  3. WickedRaptor
    Nov 4, 2018
    4
    i'm a huge disturbed fan. have been since i heard guarded for the first time. and for the most part. barely find anything wrong with their albums.....however, this album was certainly wrong on many levels. as another user wrote in their review. they've found that being softer earns more ears. i thought the sound of silence cover was the weakest song on last album. not because it was soft.i'm a huge disturbed fan. have been since i heard guarded for the first time. and for the most part. barely find anything wrong with their albums.....however, this album was certainly wrong on many levels. as another user wrote in their review. they've found that being softer earns more ears. i thought the sound of silence cover was the weakest song on last album. not because it was soft. but simply because i thought it was out of place. i would happily trade it for one of the bonus tracks. and turn sound of silence into a bonus track. but we're not talking about immortalised today

    i've given this album a full listen. in its entirety. three times. and every time i've said to myself "this song isn't that good" on a lot of the tracks. mostly the softer ones, i've loved disturbed's ability to make such awesome and heavy tunes. but at the same time slip softer tunes in. believe being one of my favourite albums disturbed have done. but this album just fell short. there's too much softness and not enough hardness. not to mention the sound of the album itself, they've tried something new here and it hasn't worked out. and i can understand that. and i'm going to hope the next album isn't like this one, are you ready is the best song on the album in my personal opinion. over all this album is a bit of a waste and disturbed should keep the softer songs as a side dish. rather than the main attraction    … Expand
  4. 0Mismatch
    Oct 21, 2018
    9
    I feel like this album gets some undeserved criticism. Disturbed chose a different path this time around, hence the name Evolution. It features a lot of smaller experimental elements, which adds a deeper musical layer to the tracks.
    Most of the songs are calm, but with a lot of power behind the lyrics and feelings involved.
    Meanings delivered through songs on the album feel genuine and    I feel like this album gets some undeserved criticism. Disturbed chose a different path this time around, hence the name Evolution. It features a lot of smaller experimental elements, which adds a deeper musical layer to the tracks.
    Most of the songs are calm, but with a lot of power behind the lyrics and feelings involved.
    Meanings delivered through songs on the album feel genuine and fit quite well to the musical tone of each respective song.
    David Draiman's voice really shines though and he delivers a wide variety of vocals throughout the album.
    My personal opinion is that Evolution is better than their last album Immortalized. Even though they took a step in a different direction, it feels like the right one.
    A band cannot keep doing the same if the want to evolve.    … Expand
  5. benjaminstp85
    Oct 19, 2018
    9
    No es perfecto, pero creo es de lo más consistente desde aquel Ten thousand fists.
  6. Maddog66
    Nov 5, 2018
    9
    I am a longtime fan of Disturbed and love their earlier ,harder albums but maybe because of getting a little older I really enjoyed the variety of hard and softer tracks on this album. Great album!
  7. VegetableRocket
    Oct 19, 2018
    8
    This album is going to be divisive, because it's different to what Disturbed has done in the past.

    There are some heavier songs, but there are several ballads too. Which means we get a nice mix of David Draiman using his "hard" voice AND his "soft" voice, which actually reminds me a bit of his vocal work on Believe, Disturbed's second album. If you're like me and your favourite thing    This album is going to be divisive, because it's different to what Disturbed has done in the past.

    There are some heavier songs, but there are several ballads too. Which means we get a nice mix of David Draiman using his "hard" voice AND his "soft" voice, which actually reminds me a bit of his vocal work on Believe, Disturbed's second album. If you're like me and your favourite thing about Disturbed is the vocal work, you'll love this album.

    If you didn't like their cover of The Sound of Silence, you probably won't like the ballads.

    Personally I'm glad they're doing something different as I didn't enjoy Immortalised, which felt washed-out and defanged compared to the albums that led up to it. Each of Disturbed's albums sounds quite different, and takes elements of their previous work with some changes to create a different sound and tone for each album. This one is no exception.

    Right now people seem to be losing their minds over the ballads, but I think time will tell. Once the initial surprise of "whaaaat? You mean Dave wasn't kidding when he said half the album would be very different? But I want more of what I've heard already!" wears off I think people will look on this album in a more positive light; a step in the band's evolution and growth.

    Immortalised was too 'same-y' for me (from song-to-song and compared to their previous work. It's one I listen to in playlists, but never sit down and listen to the whole album), but The Sound of Silence cover was one of the few things I liked about it; it stood out as different and brought back Dave's soft voice in a way we hadn't heard in a new song for over a decade. Maybe that's why I've been listening to this album on a loop for the past few hours. Or maybe it's just that it's a good album, with enough range and variation in sound to demand my attention from beginning to end.    … Expand
  8. Shoopaah
    Oct 26, 2018
    8
    This album will upset neckbeards that are only able to enjoy one narrow and specific type of music, but I absolutely love the ballads on this album. It's great to hear something fresh from Disturbed after their last few albums yielded far too much samey tripe.
  9. juanspinzons
    Nov 30, 2018
    9
    If you listen this album in one day you can be a hard critic but the sounds and the compositions is made by greatest musicians full of knowledges. This album have a little piece of Sickness with “are you ready”, a piece of Believe with the acoustic sounds and “In another time”, a piece of ten thousand fist with “stronger on your own”, Savior of nothing of immortalized, the best one lie ofIf you listen this album in one day you can be a hard critic but the sounds and the compositions is made by greatest musicians full of knowledges. This album have a little piece of Sickness with “are you ready”, a piece of Believe with the acoustic sounds and “In another time”, a piece of ten thousand fist with “stronger on your own”, Savior of nothing of immortalized, the best one lie of indestructible, in my opinion the next album maybe they will name it Revolution. I don’t know. With stronger songs and hard metal implicit… Expand
  10. blmalikov
    Feb 6, 2019
    8
    Back in the day, when I was an adolescent, and the Believe and Ten Thousand Fists albums were contemporary, there were two particular songs that always stuck out to me from the rest of Disturbed's discography: "Darkness" and "Overburdened". These two songs were so vastly quieter in comparison to the rest of their music that it made me pause, made me listen, and made me realize thatBack in the day, when I was an adolescent, and the Believe and Ten Thousand Fists albums were contemporary, there were two particular songs that always stuck out to me from the rest of Disturbed's discography: "Darkness" and "Overburdened". These two songs were so vastly quieter in comparison to the rest of their music that it made me pause, made me listen, and made me realize that Disturbed was something more than just another nu metal band. Not only did they have a passion and a talent for their art, but they also had important things to say through their medium.

    I didn't often have reasons to visit these two tracks. But they did re-contextualize Disturbed for me. For example, I realized that David Draiman is a legitimate psychopath who constantly struggles to suppress his instincts in order to be a better person. In this way, David became a role model for me and I knew that I'd always closely follow Disturbed.

    Anger and conflict, and especially fighting, are the focus of the majority of Disturbed's discography. And I would venture that the primary reason for Disturbed's appeal is that they are able to channel these topics in awesome and epic ways. However, as the years went by (especially by the time Immortalized came out), it became clear to me that Disturbed's well of anger was running dry and that David wasn't viewing himself as a threat to others that had to be continually monitored and channeled in healthier ways. Their iconic sounds and topics were beginning to ring hollow like empty threats. And the songs in which their talent and their passion clearly shined was shifting in its tone.

    Evolution was inevitable. And I'm glad that it's finally arrived. Those who want anger in their music will be largely disappointed by Evolution. Those who want that should go back and enjoy the earlier albums and wait a couple years to come back and enjoy this album. For the rest of us who have literally grown alongside Disturbed and who have begun to struggle with adulthood, marriage, and parenting, Evolution is precisely what we wanted, needed, and wish to see again (a song in a major key literally made me laugh). I hope Disturbed doesn't stunt their own evolution based on demands from those that want the sickness back.    … Expand
  11. Bonicolatino
    Aug 8, 2019
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Theo best album of Disturbed. Good balance of music style. Very good. :))))… Expand
  12. Arthuu
    Oct 24, 2019
    7
    I believe it's not what many expected, left me with bitter sweet feelings but eventually I came to conclusion that it's not bad at all; You can still feel the spirit of Disturbed and it satisfies me.
  13. Mazma
    Dec 25, 2020
    9
    L'ultimo album, al momento, un capolavoro. Watch You Burn e' il pezzo migliore qua dentro

Awards & Rankings

93
#93 Most Discussed Album of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
58

Mixed or average reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. Sputnikmusic
    Oct 22, 2018
    46
    The frustrating desire for something daring or interesting is never satiated. To be blunt, Evolution is essentially a blander version of Immortalized, which was the flavourless porridge version of Asylum, which was the graham cracker version of Indestructible. Even the song titles are uninspired.
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  2. Consequence
    Oct 19, 2018
    67
    The heavy songs on Evolution should please longtime fans, with a couple harkening back to the dynamism of Disturbed’s first couple of albums, but the glut of softer tracks may have been served better on a separate acoustic EP.
    Read full review
  3. Classic Rock Magazine
    Oct 18, 2018
    80
    Their most convincing album since 2000's sickness. [Nov 2018, p.80]
See all critic reviews »